Snagging some asian carp in the St. Louis area

I am planning to go to St. Louis this weekend to do some snagging and was wondering if anyone that has been fishing the river had noticed any large amounts around chain of rocks or alton damn or any other place that you could snag from the bank.

Careful what you wish for, most of us wish they'd go away...:wink: The way the things are spreading, it probably won't be too long before you, too, can have the joy of dodging flying, slimy, fish in every patch of slack water you drive your boat through.........:big_smile:

I got into them giggin the past couple weekends up by the Bonnots Mill access on the Osage. The first weekend we got into the silvers and they were jumping all over the place. This passed weekend when the moon was almost full we got all bigheads and only seen a few jumping silvers. Those things are a blast if you enjoy gigging or snagging. :smile2:

Hey Cumberlandcat you definitely ought not wish them on yourself. You can come down here and see how bad they are. You can pull behind a dike or in some slack water and start doing circles with boat and end up with 10 or more of those big flopping, bleeding slimmy pieces of crap in the boat with you. You will have many more jumping into the side of the boat, motor and all around it. They might be fun with a shotgun to turn them into a chum slick or with a bow like those guys on the extreme aerial bowfishing video but other than that they suck. The biggest so far I have had jump in went about 30# and also had one that jumped in and hit floor then bounced out and bent the steering arm on my motor on the way out. These things are dangerous but I must admit them babies can get some air.

Those asians really suck. I went a couple weeks ago to Alton Dam and didn't have any luck. I think the water is too low right now because it seems they move in closer when the water is on the rise (to feed I guess?). This is standing on the bank of course. It is a lot of fun though if you can find a large school of 'em. You can get at least a 25 pounder on every cast. Just make sure to get some braided line (I use 80# or 100#), not the mono.

When you start hitting the asians really good at Alton, PLEASE PLEASE shoot me a PM or something and let me know. I love snagging those things. :smile2:

As for gigging them asians, I run 5 - 300 watt halogen lamps on the front of my boat off my gigging rail. We then have big 5 prong welded gigs with a 12 foot wooden pole screwed into it. You motor up the river slowly with your lights shining in the water and stab them when they run by. It's a hoot!